Saved by the Bell: The New Class
Saved by the Bell: The New Class is an NBC network sitcom series and spin-off of "Saved by the Bell" created by Sam Bobrick, which aired as part of NBC's "TNBC" Saturday morning line-up. The show aired from September 11, 1993 to January 8, 2000, lasting for seven seasons & 143 episodes. Plot The series centered on a new group of students attending Bayside High with Mr. Belding still the principal of the school and Screech now working as his assistant. Cast *Dennis Haskins as Principal Richard Belding *Dustin Diamond as Samuel "Screech" Powers (seasons 2–7) *Robert Sutherland Telfer as Scott Erickson (season 1) *Isaac Lidsky as Barton "Weasel" Wyzell (season 1) *Bonnie Russavage as Vicki Needleman (season 1) *Bianca Lawson as Megan Jones (seasons 1–2) *Natalia Cigliuti as Lindsay Warner (seasons 1–3) *Jonathan Angel as Thomas "Tommy D" De Luca (seasons 1–3) *Christian Oliver as Brian Keller (season 2) *Spankee Rodgers as Bobby Wilson (season 2) *Sarah Lancaster as Rachel Meyers (guest star season 1, seasons 2–4) *Salim Grant as R.J. "Hollywood" Collins (season 3) *Richard Lee Jackson as Ryan Parker (seasons 3–5) *Samantha Becker as Maria Lopez (seasons 3–7) *Anthony Harrell as Cornelius "Eric" Little (seasons 4–7) *Ben Gould as Nicky Farina (seasons 4–7) *Lindsey McKeon as Katie Peterson (seasons 4–7) *Ashley Lyn Cafagna as Liz Miller (seasons 5–7) *Tom Wade Huntington as Tony Dillon (seasons 6–7) Production Cast Changes "Saved by the Bell: The New Class" was notable for its cast changes. Each season featured one to three cast changes and the constant changes made it confusing for new viewers who were not watching the show from the start because cast members would come & go without any real explanation, and presumably contributed to lower ratings as the seasons progressed. After the initial criticism of the first season of "The New Class" as essentially being a poor copy of the original series, the producers changed a number of elements of the show for the second season. Robert Sutherland Telfer, Isaac Lidsky, and Bonnie Russavage were all fired, and three new characters were introduced for the 1994–95 season. Brian Keller (Christian Oliver) became the new transfer student from Switzerland, Bobby Wilson (Spankee Rodgers) was the newest cool kid, and Rachel Meyers (Sarah Lancaster) was the school's fashion expert and shop-a-holic. Lancaster also appeared in a single episode as Rachel in the first season. The writers also invited back original cast member Dustin Diamond as Screech for the show's second season, as he became available after the cancellation of "Saved by the Bell: The College Years". Providing continuity, Screech returned to Bayside High to work as Mr. Belding's assistant as part of a work/study program and also help build a bridge between the two series. Screech ended up remaining for the rest of the show's run, with very little mention being made throughout the story of his continued enrollment at California University. Further, the show's sets were redesigned to change the appearance of Bayside from that of the original series and Mr. Belding was given a new office. Prior to Season 3, cast members Bianca Lawson, Christian Oliver and Spankee Rodgers left the series, and three new characters were brought on: schemer Ryan Parker (Richard Lee Jackson), lively and outspoken cheerleader Maria Lopez (Samantha Esteban, then credited as Samantha Becker) & fashion-conscious R.J. "Hollywood" Collins (Salim Grant) were transfers from Valley High School. At the end of the third season, original cast members Natalia Cigliuti and Jonathan Angel had decided to move on to other projects. Salim Grant was also let go and did not return for the new season, beginning in September of 1996. New cast members Ben Gould (Nicky Farina), Lindsey McKeon (Katie Peterson), and Anthony Harrell (Eric Little) joined the show for its fourth season. Gould played Ryan's stepbrother from New York and was the love interest for Katie and later Maria. Katie was the newest "goody-goody" and Eric was the school's star football player. Season 4 was Sarah Lancaster's final season and she was replaced in Season 5 by Ashley Lyn Cafagna as Liz Miller, a sheltered star of the school's swim team and is initially pursued by both stepbrothers, Ryan and Nicky. Also, the gang's original hangout, The Max, was renovated for the new season after the original burnt down in the fourth-season finale. Season 6 followed and new cast member Tom Wade Huntington replaced Richard Lee Jackson as Tony Dillon, another Valley High transfer student and love interest for Maria. It was widely reported that Season 6 was in fact the final season for the series. In addition, NBC decided to prolong the series by splitting the number of episodes in half into another season (Season 7). These episodes had already been filmed at the same time as the sixth season and the cast remained the same. Concluding the series in a similar fashion to the original, all characters go their separate ways into college. Eric is accepted into the Chicago School of the Arts to pursue his singing career and Liz is accepted into Stanford to pursue her Olympic aspirations (both constant themes throughout the series). Maria is accepted into UCLA and Tony is accepted into SDSU, prompting the two to end their relationship. Katie is accepted into Columbia, but is unable to go due to financial troubles and plans to attend an unnamed Cal State University instead. The series ends with Katie and Nicky's future in relative uncertainty, as he is accepted into NYU. Mr. Belding is offered the position of Dean of Students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (the alma mater of Dennis Haskins). It is unknown what happened to Screech. Category:NBC TV shows Category:1990s television series Category:2000s television series Category:Sitcoms Category:Comedy Category:1993 Category:1994 Category:1995 Category:1996 Category:1997 Category:1998 Category:1999 Category:2000